


Changing Fate

by Romana_Wolfhunter



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-01-22
Updated: 2012-02-14
Packaged: 2017-10-29 22:59:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/325120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romana_Wolfhunter/pseuds/Romana_Wolfhunter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if the person you thought you were destined to be with was not the one at all?</p><p>What if you'd known your true soulmate all your life, but never realised?</p><p>If you could change that, would you?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Strange Meeting

Hermione.

“Harry, hurry up! I don’t want to be late!” Hermione called back to Harry through the hustle and bustle of King’s Cross Station. She’d lost track of him in the crowd.

“I’m coming Hermione, calm down! And we’re not going to be late!” Harry appeared in the crowd pushing his huge trolley laden with bags. He was trying to dodge commuters in  
suites carrying briefcases, but was getting a number of glares from them as he got in the way.  
Hermione couldn’t contain the smile that spread across her face as she reached the pillar that separated Platform 9 from Platform 10. She never thought that she’d be here again, about to return to Hogwarts. So much had changed in her life since she’d last stood here. She had lost so much; friends, family, loved ones, so many lives had been lost in the last year.

Hermione thought back over her summer and remembered her reaction when she had got the letter from Hogwarts enquiring into whether she would consider returning to complete her final year of school. Of course she jumped at the opportunity, and had been planning her return ever since. Ron had been a completely different story entirely. Ron. Even his name made her want to cry. Ever since he had broken up with her, just thinking about him brought tears to her eyes. She hadn’t wanted their relationship to end. When they had got together after the battle of Hogwarts, she had figured that they would be together until the end. Just how wrong she had been. It had all started when Ron had received his letter from Hogwarts. He was adamant that he wasn’t going to go back there. Of course Harry and Hermione had tried to persuade him otherwise, but Ron just wouldn’t have it. He had it set in his mind that he didn’t need to go back to Hogwarts, that he could just walk into jobs with hardly any qualifications and his only experience was in hunting down Horcruxes! Harry had let it go after a while, but Hermione was adamant to make him see sense. The more she pushed Ron, the more he had resisted. They had ended up getting into a huge fight in which Hermione, exasperated with her boyfriend, suggested they take a break. Ron took this completely the wrong way, thinking that Hermione didn’t love him anymore, and had told her that it was over between them. Hermione had tried to reason with him and explain that that wasn’t what she’d meant, but Ron had just stormed out of her flat into the night, telling her that he didn’t want to see her again. She had always figured that they were destined to be together, soul mates. How was it possible for this to happen? She had thought it was their fate to be together, to get married, have kids, and grow old. Hermione had constantly thought that Ron wanted the same things as she did, but maybe she was wrong.

“Hermione! Are you listening to me? We need to go through to Platform 9 ¾!” Harry’s voice brought Hermione back to the present.

“Sorry, I was just... umm... Thinking about stuff” Hermione said quickly.

“I know this is going to be hard for you, coming back without Ron, but you will be fine, I know it.” said Harry encouragingly. He always knew exactly what she was thinking.

“That’s easy for you to say,” Hermione retorted “You have Ginny!”

“Speaking of Ginny, where is she? She was supposed to be meeting us.” Harry looked round to see if his girlfriend was anywhere in the crowd.

“How about you wait for her here, and I’ll go through and save us a compartment on the train?” Hermione suggested. Even though Ginny was one of her best friends, she didn’t really want to see her and Harry ‘greet’ each other after nearly a whole summer apart. Hermione turned on her heels and pushed her luggage trolley a short distance away from the pillar that she would be running at. Even though she had done this many times, the feeling of the adrenaline coursing through her veins still made her hair stand on end. She took a deep breath, and then set off in a run towards the pillar. As she got closer, she felt herself speed up until she was sprinting at full speed towards the solid brick column. As she reached it, she gave the trolley one final push and jumped through the column. Hermione was thrown into pitch black and a strange feeling ran across her skin as she passed from the muggle world to the secret one where she would always truly belong. The darkness only lasted for a second and she charged out onto Platform 9 ¾... And ploughed straight into an unsuspecting wizard who was half knocked over by the force of the trolley. Hermione was completely unbalanced by the collision and fell onto the floor.

“Oh my God, I am so sorry!” Hermione exclaimed as the wizard regained his balance with his back to her. “Are you ok?”

“Yes, I’m fine.” The silky smooth and very annoyed voice of Draco Malfoy nearly made Hermione cry out in surprise. He turned round to face her, wearing an expression of irritation on his face which quickly turned to shock as he realised who had nearly run him over. Hermione could barely keep her mouth from falling open as she stared at the wizard before her. Malfoy had changed a lot since she had last seen him. His once white hair was now a deep blonde, and it was a bit longer than before. It was messy and unruly; completely different from the slicked back hair she was used to seeing. She had to admit it; the new style really suited him. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt that clung to his chest, outlining a very muscular torso. His bare arms were more tanned then they used to be; he had seemed to have lost the piercing white looks over the summer. He also had on a pair of old blue jeans paired with a pair of black lace up pumps. Wow. That was all Hermione could think as she stared at the completely different, completely new Draco Malfoy. He raised his eyebrows and a smirk crept across his face as he stood there, watching Hermione study him, her eyes out on stalks. His expression brought her back down to earth and she blushed a bright red as she realised he knew she was gawking at him.

“Are you going to sit staring at me all day, Granger, or are you gonna stick your eyes back into your head and get up?” Malfoy sneered at her. Just the sound of his voice sent shivers up her spine. His steely grey eyes were full of scorn, but there was almost a hint of shock and... Delight. No, she must have read it wrong. Why would he, Draco Malfoy, her enemy, be delighted to see her? He would be feeling the exact opposite, wouldn’t he?

“Umm... I, err... I’m sorry for, umm... running into you,” Hermione stuttered. She was having trouble forming her words as Malfoy stared down at her. “I didn’t mean to, I just didn’t see you.” Her cheeks blushed a brilliant red. Malfoy just stood there and regarded her for a minute, almost like he was studying her. All Hermione could do was sit there and feel her cheeks grow redder and redder. She was in too much shock to even begin thinking about getting up. A small smile played on Malfoy’s lips as he watched the girl get evermore uncomfortable with the situation. When he realised that she wasn’t going to be able to get up without a hand, he rolled his eyes and leant over and offered his hand to help her up. She reached out and grabbed hold of his hand and he pulled her to her feet.

“You should be more careful, Granger, you could have caused some serious damage.” Malfoy smiled slyly, his words rolling effortlessly off his tongue. The petulant voice Hermione had been so used to hearing over the years was gone, now replaced with a silky smooth one that perfectly fitted his new image. Hermione looked down and realised that Malfoy was still holding onto her hand. He looked down as well and then whipped his hand from hers and placed it behind his back. Malfoy looked uncomfortable for just a second, but that was long enough for Hermione to recognise it, but he quickly went back to looking sly and scornful. Hermione was still lost for words and he was enjoying the effect his presence had on her.

“I... well... umm... I’m really sorry...” was all she could manage. Malfoy smiled coyly at her before winking and then disappearing into the crowd. Hermione was left completely stunned and astonished; she was unable to register what had just happened. She, Hermione Jean Granger, was lost for words.

“Hermione? Hermione! Can you hear me?” Hermione whipped her head round to see Harry stood a by the pillar he had just walked through, holding hands with Ginny.

“Ginny!” Hermione rushed over and hugged her “How are you? It’s been ages!”

“I’m very good thanks, I’ve missed you over the summer, it’s a shame we couldn’t have seen each other more.” Hermione’s messy break up with Ron had meant that Hermione had found it very hard to meet up with Ginny over the summer. But at least they were here now, about to go off to Hogwarts together. They’d have plenty of time to catch up.

“Yeah it was, but I have been so busy, this summer has really flown by.” Hermione’s voice shook a little as she said this; she still hadn’t recovered from her little run-in with Malfoy. She didn’t understand how it could affect her so much, she hadn’t been hurt. She shouldn’t be feeling so... so not with it.

“Are you ok, Hermione?” Harry asked, peering at her curiously. It seemed he had noticed her unstableness.

“Yes, I just... umm... accidentally ran into someone, I’m just feeling a bit weird.” Hermione didn’t let on that it had been Malfoy she had almost knocked over, and who had completely taken her breath away; for some reason she didn’t want to tell them and she didn’t know why.

“Who?” Harry exclaimed, looking around for an injured person in the crowds surging around on the platform.

“I... I don’t know” Hermione lied. “I didn’t see their face, they just walked off. They seemed fine.”

“Are you ok?” Ginny enquired, looking genuinely worried about her friend.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” Hermione said quickly. She was trying to shake the whole encounter with Malfoy from her mind, but she couldn’t stop thinking about him.

“Well if you’re ok, we should probably get on the train,” Harry said, consulting his watch “It will be leaving soon. The three of them pushed their trolleys to the nearest door and piled onto the train, Crookshanks moaning loudly all the while. Harry and Ginny loaded their bags on quickly and went to find a compartment, leaving Hermione to finish getting her things.

As Hermione reached down from the train to pick up her final bag on the platform she glanced up to see a pair of steely grey eyes watching her cautiously from the front of the platform. Malfoy stood with his arm outstretched, holding Hermione’s bag out to her. This time her jaw did fall open, and nearly hit the floor. What the heck was going on today? Malfoy just laughed at her expression and put the bag onto the train next to her before climbing onto the train himself. He walked down the aisle until he found the compartment he was looking for. He slid open the door and just before going inside, he turned and winked at her. Malfoy stepped inside and shut the door with a quiet ‘snap’. Hermione was once again, completely and utterly stunned.


	2. On the train and back to Hogwarts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nice, I can see that your jokes haven’t gotten any classier. Mind you, neither has your taste in girls.” That was below the belt, even in Draco’s book. He could see Potter bristling with anger as the insult hit home. His grip on Weasley tightened before he pushed her behind him and pulled out his wand.  
> “What, did you just say about my girlfriend?” Potter growled. His eyes had narrowed into dark slits and his mouth was slightly open which showed his teeth that were tightly clamped together.  
> “Harry, come on, he’s not worth it!” The redhead piped up from behind him. She even sounded like her brothers.  
> “Didn’t you just hear what he said, Ginny?!” Harry asked her incredulously, as if that alone was a good enough excuse for launching a full-on attack on Draco.  
> “Yes, and he’s a complete git, but don’t let him get to you, you know your better than him!” Weasley's voice was getting more high pitched and squeaky; was this situation a little bit to tense for her? Draco sneered at her before drawing his wand as well.

Draco slid the compartment door shut and flopped into the empty seat nearest him. What had just happened? His mind was a complete blur as he tried to think back over the events that had happened just a few minutes before. The train gave a sudden jolt and then started to move out of the station. Draco closed his eyes and let the rocking sensation calm down his heart, which seemed to be beating far too fast to be considered normal.  
Several images stuck in his mind as he thought about what had happened on the platform; Hermione Granger’s face being one of them. One minute he had been ambling around the platform, waiting for the train to be ready to go, and the next minute he had been violently knocked from behind and nearly sent sprawling across the ground. Only his years of balance practice in Quidditch had saved him from being bowled over completely. Draco rubbed his hand across his back where the trolley had hit him; he could feel a slight gash along the spine and some grazing, but nothing major. But one thing Draco had expected even less than being hit was that the person pushing the trolley was Hermione Granger. He had expected it to be some stupid little first-year, so when he turned round and saw Granger slumped on the floor; he nearly had the shock of his life. She had changed a lot since he had last seen her. The unruly and frizzy curls that he remembered were replaced with golden ringlets perfectly styled to frame her face. They tumbled down her back like a glowing waterfall to about chest height; he had to admit it, it looked amazing. Her babyish face was now in the shape of a love-heart, with a small chin and light pink cheeks. Her large eyes were a stunning hazel colour, with small flecks of green towards the centre. Draco remembered them staring up at him while her cheeks flushed a brilliant red with embarrassment. Her lips were small and doll-like; their colour was of a light rose. Her overall complexion was completely different to what Draco remembered; even though he was supposed to be her enemy, he had to admit that she was gorgeous. When he had been able to pull his eyes away from her face, he noticed what she was wearing. She had on a pale blue Hollister t-shirt paired with a pair of skin-tight skinny jeans which hugged her curves. She also had on a pale grey cardigan and a pair of ankle boots. Wow. That was the only word running through Draco’s mind as he surveyed the girl on the floor in front of him. What he was feeling inside was reflected back on Granger’s face; shock, confusion, and more shock. Draco guessed that she was more than a little surprised at his transformation too.  
But he felt something else as he had looked down at Granger. It was something completely new to him; it was almost like elation, some kind of fierce happiness that he had never witnessed in himself before. But why would he, Draco Malfoy, an upper-class pureblood, be happy to see her, Hermione Granger, a second-class mudblood? It just didn’t make sense. Wait. He shouldn’t be thinking like that. He shouldn’t be thinking that he’s better than everyone else. At least that’s what he’d told himself when he’d left Malfoy Manor to live by himself in a flat in London. Since the war, Draco had grown tired of the whole prejudice thing towards people who weren’t pure bloods. His father, of course, was still adamant that pure-bloods were superior to the rest of the wizarding and muggle worlds. One night, Draco had confronted Lucius Malfoy about his chauvinism, which resulted in a huge row between them. In the end, Draco pronounced that if his father and family were still stuck in their medieval view points on purebloods, then he would consider himself no longer a part of that family. Since then, Draco had been living in a flat in the centre of London by himself. He kept in touch with his mother; she had always treated him well, despite what his father wanted. They met every couple of weeks, but he still missed her desperately.  
Many people had been surprised to see Draco return to Hogwarts; rumours had been flying around that he was now a Deatheater. He would happily admit that at one point not too long ago he deeply considered becoming one, but since he had changed his life and left the Malfoy household, he had decided against it. Draco wasn’t going to forget who he was and what his family did; he wasn’t ashamed. He just didn’t want to be like them, he wanted more from his life. He wanted more than the massive inheritance his parents have no doubt set aside for him. He wanted more than knowing he would have to marry a pureblood witch to ‘keep the family tradition’. Draco wanted to be able to make his own decisions, to be able to experiment with his life and shape to what suited him, not what suited his family’s interests. So that’s why he decided to return to Hogwarts. He wanted to prove to everyone that he’s not what they’re expecting of him, that he can be who he wants. Draco was tired of expectations. He was tired of the expectations of him from his family to live up to the traditions. He was tired of the expectations of his classmates to become a thoroughly unpleasant, arrogant prat who cared about no one but himself. He just wished that he could wipe the slate clean and start again with his life. He just wished-  
“Draco, my man, you’ve been awfully quiet, I almost didn’t see you there! How’ve you been?” Blaise Zabini’s voice drew Draco out from his thoughts and back into reality. He looked up to see his friends and fellow Slytherin sat next to him with a genuinely happy smile spread across his face. Draco could always count on Blaise to bring happiness and positivity wherever he went.  
“Not so bad, Blaise, not so bad. And yourself?” Draco asked as he stretched his arms out in front of him. It seems he had been sitting and thinking longer than he had anticipated. He glanced out of the window and was shocked to see that they were already half way there! He must have really got lost in his thoughts.  
“I’m good thanks. Did you have a good holiday?” Blaise enquired. Draco had stayed with Blaise for a few days when he had left Malfoy Manor, so he was aware of Draco’s situation.  
“Yeah, it was nice. Well the second half was anyway. It was a quiet one, but sometimes they’re the best.” Draco looked around the carriage to find that Crabbe and Goyle were now there as well, along with Pansy Parkinson and some of her friends from Slytherin. Pansy looked up and gave Draco a sickly sweet smile that made his stomach turn. It seems Pansy still fancied him then. Draco shuddered from the memories of the short time that they had dated; it was hell. Pansy was clingy, whiny and possessive. Draco had no idea what he had ever seen in her apart from her mildly good looks. Her hair was okay, and she had nice eyes, but there wasn’t anything that made her extraordinary. Not like Granger.  
Wait.  
Had he just thought that? Had he just honestly thought that Hermione Granger was extraordinarily good looking? But it’s true though, she did look gorgeous. The image of her eyes meeting his as Draco had handed her her bag onto the train stuck in his mind. Why had he done that? He had been standing on the other side of the platform when he had seen her struggling with her bags. The next thing he knew, he was running through the crowds to help her. It was a bit of a blur, but something he remembered clearly was the look in her eyes as she saw him. It was shock mixed with surprise, elation, but also sadness. Why was there sadness in her beautiful eyes?  
Whoa! He was going to have to stop this. Why was he thinking about Granger? Okay, yeah, she had changed a lot, and now wasn’t half bad-looking, but she was still Granger. She despised him, and he was supposed to despise her.  
“Umm... I think I’m just gonna, err... go for a walk, I need some air.” Draco jumped up quickly to everyone’s surprise and headed out of the carriage. He turned round to shut the door and caught Blaise looking at him strangely. Blaise knew Draco the best out of nearly anyone, so he knew when something was up. Draco gave him a quick smile, hopefully to stop his suspicions, and then walked off down the corridor. Draco didn’t really know where he was going, he just knew he needed to get out of that compartment and walk. He decided that maybe he did need some fresh air, so he went in search of an open window.  
Eventually he found one and leant out of it to breathe in the cool air. Draco closed his eyes and let the wind rush over his face. It felt refreshing to his hot skin. When he started to feel a little cold, he leant back inside the train and closed her windows. Thinking that he should probably get back to his carriage, Draco turned round to head back, only to stop in his tracks. The compartment in front of him that he had assumed was empty when he first walked past, in fact contained the very girl he had been thinking about moments ago. Hermione Granger was sat looking out of the window dejectedly, with a slightly forlorn and sad look in her eyes. Draco recognised it as the same look that had been in her eyes when he had handed Granger her bags on the platform. He leaned in close and saw a tear run down her face. Why was she crying? Granger wiped the tear angrily away with her sleeve and returned to staring out of the window. For some reason, Draco had the sudden urge to go into her compartment and comfort her. This notion worried him, that he cared about her feelings. At that moment, Granger glanced out of the carriage and saw him watching her. Her expression went from sad and depleted to confusion. She tilted her head slightly as she analysed the scene in front of her. Draco knew what it must look like; weird boy staring at sad girl creepily: not good. But instead of being angry or scared, a small smile crept onto Granger’s lips, and before Draco could stop it, a smile appeared on his too.  
“Malfoy, what are you doing?” Draco spun around to come face to face with the stuck up fool who was none other than Harry Potter and his girlfriend, that stupid Weasley girl, Ginny was it? Just the sight of Potter made Draco’s blood boil. All of the memories from the six years they had spent at Hogwarts together came rushing back to him, and it was all he could do to stop himself from punching the smug git right in the face.  
“I was getting some fresh air for your information, Potter, or is there not enough for the rest of us because you and your big head have taken it all?” Draco sneered at him. He did enjoy poking fun at Potter, even though it seemed a bit childish.  
“What I meant was, what are you doing at this end of the train? Shouldn’t you be with all of your little minions down in the Deatheater end?” It seemed Potter hadn’t grown tired of the ridiculing either.  
“Nice, I can see that your jokes haven’t gotten any classier. Mind you, neither has your taste in girls.” That was below the belt, even in Draco’s book. He could see Potter bristling with anger as the insult hit home. His grip on Weasley tightened before he pushed her behind him and pulled out his wand.  
“What, did you just say about my girlfriend?” Potter growled. His eyes had narrowed into dark slits and his mouth was slightly open which showed his teeth that were tightly clamped together.  
“Harry, come on, he’s not worth it!” The redhead piped up from behind him. She even sounded like her brothers.  
“Didn’t you just hear what he said, Ginny?!” Harry asked her incredulously, as if that alone was a good enough excuse for launching a full-on attack on Draco.  
“Yes, and he’s a complete git, but don’t let him get to you, you know your better than him!” Weasley's voice was getting more high pitched and squeaky; was this situation a little bit to tense for her? Draco sneered at her before drawing his wand as well.  
“You gonna listen to you little girlfriend Potter? You gonna do what she says, or are you man enough to stand up to me?” Draco mimicked Ginny’s voice perfectly and he could tell that he was getting to Potter. Wouldn’t it be a shame if his little fan club saw him loose it and attack a fellow student? That would surely take a blow to his reputation to the ‘boy who could do no wrong’.  
“Stop it, both of you!” A new voice had entered the dispute, and Draco turned to see that Granger was stood in the doorway to her compartment, hand on hips, with a thoroughly disgruntled look on her face. “Really? Don’t you think this is just a bit childish?” She raised her eyebrows and looked at them like they were little children who had been caught stealing from the biscuit tin.  
“What are you gonna do, Granger, run and tell your mummy that two big boys are having a fight?” Draco mocked her voice and sneered at her petulance, but put away his wand nonetheless. He noticed that there were tear streaks running down her face, and that her eyes were red. She’d been crying. Potter put his wand away too and walked towards the compartment, but bumping Draco’s shoulder on the way.  
“Shut up, Malfoy, you complete prat, just buggar off back to your own group.” Granger retorted. The iciness in her voice was unmistakable, but it wavered slightly, like she was on the brink of crying. Draco looked into her eyes and saw sadness that he had never witnessed in anyone before. The gut-wrenching pain that was now visible in her eyes hurt just to look at. Draco could only imagine what it must be like to be on the inside of those feelings. Granger just stared back at him, letting him soak up the emotions that were pouring out of her. Draco’s eyes were wide with shock and his mouth fell open slightly. Granger turned away and wiped away another tear that had fallen down her cheek. Draco wanted to ask her what was wrong, why she was hurting so much, but he knew that he couldn’t. Granger turned around and walked back into the compartment after Potter and Weasley. As she shut the door she looked out at Draco one last time before going to sit back down.  
Draco turned and walked slowly back to his carriage, shocked by what he had just seen. How could someone hold so many emotions in them and not show the world what they were really feeling? It seemed near impossible to him, even just thinking about it. The pain in her eyes. The pain. How could she cope? Draco ambled back down to his compartment and sat down next to Blaise. Only then did he realise that everyone had changed into their uniforms.  
“Are we nearly there?” Draco questioned Blaise. Surely it couldn’t be? They had only been on the train for... actually he didn’t know.  
“Yeah, you were gone ages; we’re just about to arrive. You might want to get changed.” Blaise threw a bundle of black and green clothes to Draco who caught them nimbly.  
“Never thought I’d be putting these on again.” Draco said as he unfolded his robes.  
“I don’t think any of us did, Draco,” Blaise replied, patting him on the back “I don’t think any of us did.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N Hey everyone, so it's been a really long time since I first started this story, and I'm really sorry it's taken so long. This past month or two has been so crazy, a close family member passed away in January, so I was going through a rough patch then. I've also had a tonne of exams and it was my birthday at the end of January, so everything's been pretty hectic! But the next chapter's here now, so I hope you guys enjoy! <3

**Author's Note:**

> A/N hey everyone, so this is my first ever Harry Potter fan-fiction, I hope you enjoyed it! If you could leave me some reviews, or something, so I know what to improve on, I'd really appreciate it. Thanks, Romana :)


End file.
